Plea for Foster and O’Neill to speak up for Hong Kong in the face of Chinese clampdown

Activist Joshua Wong, who had been secretary-general of the Hong Kong youth movement ‘Demosisto’ until it effectively shut down in the face of opposition from Beijing earlier this summer, was speaking amid a furore over a meeting between the NI Chinese consul and the First and Deputy First ministers.

News of the meeting – which was held over the internet in late July – was first reported by the Irish News, which had come across an account of it on the Chinese Consultate’s website.

The account reportedly summarised Arlene Foster and Michelle O’Neill’s views about the Chinese government crackdown in Hong Kong by stating that the NI Executive “understands and respects” what Beijing is doing in the territory (where it has imposed a new “national security law” clamping down on independent political action).

Mrs Foster and Mrs O’Neill have said this was an incorrect characterisation of their positions, and essentially blamed the consulate for misquoting them.

As criticism mounted, they each also issued short tweets setting out their views.

Mrs O’Neill said: “I made it very clear that I supported the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ international agreement” (although the Chinese government itself claims to respect this).

And Mrs Foster said “my position on Hong Kong is the same as that of Her Majesty’s Government” (which has been critical of the clampdown).

Mr Wong said to his 654,000 followers on Twitter yesterday that it would be “unbelievably scandalous if it is really the case that the First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland have said they ‘understand and respect’ Beijing’s human rights abuses under its sweeping national security law”.

He went on to say: “Just within one month after the national security law was put in place, the city has been blanketed in Orwellian fear.

“People carrying stickers with quotes from Bibles or carrying blank placards were charged for breaching the security law.

“It will be more worrying if the Northern Ireland government chooses to turn a blind eye to the potential human rights concerns behind the law and bow down low to Beijing solely in exchange for more economic ties with China in business and education.

“Therefore, we hope the Northern Ireland government can clarify its stance and stand up for the liberal values that the world cherishes.”

China has not only faced criticism for its action in Hong Kong of late.

It has set its face against international criticism of its continuing mass detention of enormous numbers of Uighurs (a racial minority linked to ethnic Turks, who live in north-west China and are largely Muslim) in what western media often describe as “re-education camps”.

And it was the epicentre of the outbreak of the coronavirus, which spread from the inland city of Wuhan.

There has been widespread disbelief of Beijing’s account of how the virus spread has manifested itself, amid claims that the communist dictatorship cannot be trusted to provide reliable information.

Hong Kong was a UK-administered territory from 1898 until 1997.

As such its citizens enjoyed much greater freedom than other Chinese people, who are governed by a totalitarian regime based in Beijing.

After China took back control of the territory of Hong Kong from the UK, it pledged to respect an arrangement known as “One Country, Two Systems”, which theoretically let Hong Kong retain power over much of its own affairs.

But Beijing has increasingly sought to assert control, sparking protests and riots from citizens in the roughly 7.5m-strong territory.

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